Cold Storage has been the primary method for storing various commodities from the pre-historic times. The quality of stored materials remains intact beyond their normal shelf life. In today’s era, modular cold storage is used majorly in food and retail industries, markets, restaurants, and processing plants mainly to control factors such as spoilage and preservation.
Equipment in modular cold storage :
These cold storages are popularly known as modular cold storages which can be further broadly categorised into blast or cold rooms. Cold rooms are made up of flexible polyurethane panels that can withstand temperatures between -50°C to +10°C. These polyurethane panels are usually about 100 mm in thickness and are installed in the entire storage. Further, steel pipes, compressor unit and condenser along with other machine units are used in assembling the cold rooms.
They are constructed in a modular way to minimise the time needed to assemble them with easy installation. The temperature range caters to different products in different ways. Varying degrees of insulation ensures a cold airtight environment that is crucial to the cold rooms functioning.
Such modular cold storage are crucial to the food industry because without such cold rooms or blast rooms services such as catering and food processing cannot run efficiently. Very large cold rooms are also referred as walk-in cold rooms.
Blast rooms are basically enclosed or modular spaces that can instantly freeze or chill objects in a short span of time. Popularly known as blast chillers and negative cold rooms, these rooms can instantly drop to temperatures as low as -50°C. These rooms are properly insulated to prevent any leakages or drop in temperatures.
Industries that require modular cold storage :
Food processing industries are the main commercial users of modular cold storages. They require precisely controlled environments that can preserve foods for a longer period of time than a traditional refrigerator. Restaurants, grocery stores, bars and high-demand kitchens are the prominent users of these cold storages. In some form or the other, they need the storage to either preserve food for later consumption or need it to control spoilage. Blast rooms are also present in form of bar coolers in bars and grocery stores in order to store beverages.
Reliability and Efficiency :
Cold rooms are pretty effective and reliable in commercial kitchens and storages. Unprepared orders or extra food stocks can be easily stored in an easy and efficient way. Availability in various sizes and specifications helps businesses find their exact match with ease. These storage options also come with enhanced features such as foamed secured locks, groove joints and silicon sealing which makes them weatherproof and airtight.
Careful sterilisation before the installation makes them disease free and environmentally safe as well. Hence, there is no doubt in the fact that cold storages crucial in smooth functioning of the food industry.